sequences for a wash

Here is how I do it:

Coat it in Future, and when the Future is set good (24-48 hours later), decal it. Then after the decals have set for 24 hours give it another coat of Future. After that coat has cured I then use the wash.

I use Createx T-shirt airbrushing paints but many other acrylics will work as well and Michael's Art Supply and others carry a lot of inexpensive acrylics that would work. Just test them out first on a scrap model or something to see how it works.

For that P-40 I would mix a medium dark brown, maybe 10 drops with about 10 drops of water to thin it and then add a couple of drops of Dawn dish washing soap to it to keep it from adhering to the Future coat as much. Then I take an old paintbrush, dip it in the wash mixture and paint it into the scribed panel lines. Let it sit until it dries well and then take a piece of paper towel folded up into a small square or a Q-tip moistened slightly with water and wipe away the excess wash leaving the color in the groove of the panel lines. You may need to wipe lightly and across the grain so to speak to avoid removing the paint from the panel lines. If you wipe too much out of the panel line then repeat applying some more wash to the panel line, let it dry and wipe again.

After you have done this to all the panel lines clean up any wash that you may have missed or left on the model and let it dry overnight or 24 hours if you prefer. Then spray the entire aircraft with clear flat and you are done. Voila!

MikeV - thanks for the tips. That sounds easy enough for me!    

As a point of clarity, I had been reading that I should use oil paints for washes with acrylic paints? Maybe that is not necessary if you pre-coat with Future?     

pathvet9

MikeV - thanks for the tips. That sounds easy enough for me!    

As a point of clarity, I had been reading that I should use oil paints for washes with acrylic paints? Maybe that is not necessary if you pre-coat with Future?     

Jake,

Some do use oil paints for washes and to each his own. In my humble opinion it is far easier to use water based acrylics than oils. The ones who use oils use Future to protect the finish as well. Anytime you put something over the paint you need a protective barrier so that you do not ruin the paint and decals you spent so much time applying prior to the wash.

MikeV - I finally got the model around to doing the wash. I mixed some Pollyscale Mud with Grimy Black, 10pts water and a couple of drops of soap. I brushed all the surfaces and got some drips. I let it dry totally but then I could not get anything off with water blot or even pressure rub. So I used a Q-tip soaked in Windex and got the most off.

Cannot figure out what I did wrong?      as I had used future before decalling and then MicroMark clear dullcoat to cover it??

Any ideas woudl be most appreciated. Maybe I let it dry too long??   

pathvet9

MikeV - I finally got the model around to doing the wash. I mixed some Pollyscale Mud with Grimy Black, 10pts water and a couple of drops of soap. I brushed all the surfaces and got some drips. I let it dry totally but then I could not get anything off with water blot or even pressure rub. So I used a Q-tip soaked in Windex and got the most off.

Cannot figure out what I did wrong?      as I had used future before decalling and then MicroMark clear dullcoat to cover it??

Any ideas woudl be most appreciated. Maybe I let it dry too long??   

Are you saying that after you did the decals you put on the dullcoat and then put the wash over the dullcoat?

If so that is not the way to do it. You need to put Future over the decals and when it is dry and cured well then you put the wash over it. The smooth, glossy surface is easier to wipe the excess wash off. With a dullcoat there is a rough texture that the paint gets into and is hard to remove.

Also, test out a small area first before you go putting a wash over the whole model as you don't know how difficult it will be to get the wash back off. I mentioned that I use Createx and it does not adhere well to plastic which is what I want for a wash. With the Polly Scale that you used you may only need to let it stay on for a couple of minutes and wipe the excess away. It's all trial and error.

Double post due to bad forum software.

Yup! MikeV - I did use the MicroMark kit, actually a Badger clear flat to seal and then the wash. So I screwed it up but i kind of like the effect using the Windex to clean the mess!! I WILL do better..... next time.

Thanks again for the input.